By PETE WALTON
The Bradley Beach Borough Council has agreed to lease an unused beachfront building for use as a “farm-to-beach” restaurant.
The owners of CavÈ Bistro in Avon plan to invest $340,000 in the former utility building, which the borough will continue to own. Lynn Tellefsen and Douglas Stehle of Caveman Culinarian LLC would lease the building for five years at a rate of $5,000 a year, with an option for a five-year extension.
Work on the building at Ocean and Park Place avenues would not begin until after Labor Day.
The bid was the only one received by the borough after its most recent request for proposals. A previous attempt to lease the facility resulted in the rejection of two bids last August.
The renovated building would contain seating for 40 people on two levels. The existing roof would be removed and a covered dining area would be added above the first floor.
According to the proposal, the top of the second level dining space “is designed to be lower in height than the current rooftop of the utility building, thus having no impact whatsoever to views enjoyed by the neighboring residences.”
“This solution for needed additional seating preserves the green space at the south of the building,” Tellefsen and Stehle said in their proposal. “Alternatively, we would at least need outdoor seating to the south of the building using a non-permanent overhead structure and decking or patio flooring.”
The north-south footprint of the building would remain the same, while there would be an addition to the west side for a kitchen.
Architectural drawings presented to the public at the council meeting earlier this week refer to the site as “Salt Pavilion.”
“Our ‘farm-to-beach’ kitchen would be the first of its kind restaurant on the beachfront at the Jersey Shore,” Tellefsen and Stehle said, adding that they would be “focusing on the quality of food and nutrition, without sacrificing taste.”
“The kitchen would serve a creative menu of 100 percent housemade plates using only the best ingredients available and will offer ‘to go’ and orders for pick-up,” according to the proposal.
The restaurant would operate from mid-April through mid-October. It would serve breakfast until 10 a.m. as well as lunch and dinner seven days a week from Memorial Day through Labor Day, staying open until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Borough Administrator Kelly Barrett said the proposal would be available to the public at the borough’s web site, bradleybeachnj.gov.
The project will be reviewed by the borough Planning Board at an informal hearing. Owners of property near the building will be given notice of the meeting. Planning Board Chairman William Psiuk said he believed that citizens would be allowed to ask questions and make comments at the hearing.
